Brewery 100 Years Notes

HASTINGS
100 years
August 1882 – centennial – August 1982

Article researched and prepared by B.W. Ronson and not to be reproduced or used without permission.
(references from contemporary newspapers)

Mar. 31 1881   Messrs Robjohns & Ellis have dissolved partnership as from 1st April next in the Hawkes Bay Brewery. Mr Robjohns has taken over Mr. Ellis’s interest in the business. It is likely that Mr. Ellis may resign his seat in the Municipal Council.

Apr. 21 1881   “Mr. George Ellis, being about to leave Napier, the resignation of his seat in the Borough Council may be expected very shortly.

Feb .14 1882   “We understand that it is the intention of Mr. George Ellis to start business as a brewer in new premises at Hastings at an early date. We wish the venture every success.”

Aug. 23 1882   “Mr. George Ellis has completed his brewery at Hastings, and has commenced the manufacture of sparkling ales and aerated waters. Thus another chimney pours out its volume of smoke, and adds to the appearance of the industry of this thriving township.”

E. NEWBIGIN
PALE ALE
BURTON BREWERY, HASTINGS
Brewed and Bottled in New Zealand by
E. NEWBIGIN
BREWER, BOTTLER
AERATED WATER MANUFACTURER
WINE & SPIRIT MERCHANT

1 Sept 1882

HASTINGS

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)

August 24, 1882.

Seeing a business-like column of smoke issuing from the new brewery which forms so conspicuous an object from the railway, I forthwith paid Mr Ellis a visit with a view to seeing what was to be seen. I found him and his merry men busily preparing for a start; which will take place shortly, when I will send you a full, true, and particular account of all the arrangements. For the present suffice it to say that they are on the most improved principle and that if hereafter there be any thirsty souls left unsatisfied within a considerable radius of this, it will not be Mr. Ellis’ fault. For the comfort of Good Templars ad hoc genus omne I may add that he is importing from London the latest devices for aerating mankind, and will devote some of his superabundant energy to the production of all kinds of ” fix” cordials, and tonic waters, and will undertake to inflate anything from a balloon to the whole of the Opposition members (if not superfluous) at the shortest notice. Inquiring minds “want to know you know” why this brewery is named after St Aubyn. I don’t mind telling them (in strict confidence) that it is for the same reason that the Bishop of Rumptifor was named […]

LEOPARD BRAND
PALE ALE
BURTON BREWERY. HASTINGS
GOOD FOR SPOTS
Brewed and Bottled in New Zealand by
E. NEWBIGIN
BREWER, BOTTLER
AERATED WATER MANUFACTURER
WINE & SPIRIT MERCHANT
No. 1

[Date illegible] ”Mr. George Ellis newly erected brewery at Hastings is the most compact establishment of its kind in Hawke’s Bay, and contains all the latest improvements. In connection with the brewery Mr. Ellis also manufactures aerated waters, ginger ales etc., and has acquired the services of the late foreman of Mr. Lenon’s celebrated waterworks at Wellington. Mr. Ellis is in a position to introduce various novelties in the way of temperance drinks, while the ale that we have tasted at his brewery is beyond all praise. We venture to think that Ellis’s soda-water will be a household word in the district, and if he continues to brew a pure beer from malt and hops such as the sample we have had there will be no necessity to go to Dunedin or Invercargill for light ales. Mr. Ellis attributes the excellence of his beer – apart from anything else – to the purity of the water at Hastings.”

Oct. 27 1882  Mr. G. Ellis has imported one of Barnett & Foster‘s aerated water machines…. now being fitted up at his brewery in Hastings…. Mr. Ellis should be able to turn out good temperance drink….

22 Dec 1882

HASTINGS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)

December 14, 1882.

Next to being haunted by a real ghost I can imagine nothing more annoying than to be haunted by the ghost of a song. The vexatious part of it is that it is always some lyrical rubbish which takes possession of one, and yet by a strange inconsistency one is annoyed that we can only remember a fragment, for never by any chance can one exorcise the intruder by singing it right through. Moreover, it is always something the interest and meaning of which (if it ever had any) have been dead and buried long ago. Why, for instance, should an “old ancient Irish ditty” keep hammering in my brain with damnable iteration to the time of my horse’s hoofs as I jog into Hastings this blazing hot day? Can it be because I have constituted myself (“for this occasion only”) an “Ale Conner [?]” (if the office, were extant now what a lot of candidates there would be for it!), and am on my way to inspect Mr Ellis’s brewery. Here it is again! (the rhyme not brewery). Let me sing it once for all and get rid of it if I can :-—

And some folks deloight in their fishin’ and fowlin’ to win
And other folks deloight in their carriages a rawling
But it is my whole deloight from noight until marnin’
To be dhrinkin a full bumper of the juice of the barley.

What on earth has this to do with moral NZ.? Can even the “active and intelligent” gentlemen “dressed in a little brief authority” and a blue uniform produce a bibulous fellow mortal whose depravity and powers of absorption run to this extent? Out upon the anachronism! – I should have reported fully on the brewery aforesaid long ere this, but that although it has been in working order for some time past I haven’t, something wrong with my colon having nearly brought me to a full stop.

St. Aubyn’s brewery, although not as extensive as the vast affair of which Dr. Johnson in his magniloquent language predicated that it afforded “the potentiality of wealth beyond the dreams of avarice” contains as we shall see “appliances and means to boot” in the brewing line which would have considerably astonished that philosopher, to say nothing of the fact of temperance drink and King Beer going forth hand in hand, so to speak, from the same roof. To begin at the beginning. I follow my leader up to the top floor, where the malt passes from its hopper into a patent washing machine, wherein it is thoroughly mixed with water, heated by steam from the boiler of a 10 h.p. engine on the ground floor. From the mashing machine the wort passes into the mash tun and thence into a steam-jacketed boiling copper, in which the hops are added, which copper is a specialty in New Zealand, albeit in pretty general use in England. From this copper the wort passes over the surface of a Burt’s refrigerator (on the second floor), through the pipes of which a stream of cold water passes. Thence the wort passes into the fermenting vat. Part of the basement is used for storing ale, the sight of which reminds me that I am just in condition to ascertain if the ale is ditto. Sample No. 1, a good strong beer, somewhat like “Yorkshire stingo.” Sample No. 2 a light ale “for harvest use,” says Mr Ellis, although I can think of many other occasions on which a tankard of it would be acceptable. Sample No. 3 comes nearer in flavor to English than anything which I have tasted in New Zealand. On my remarking this, I am informed that, whereas the other samples were new ales, this has been in store for three months. This, although it would be considered a short storage in England, greatly improves the flavor of the sample in question. The other side of the basement might be visited by Sir Wm. Fox with a clear conscience, containing as it does Barnett and Foster’s prize apparatus for the manufacture of soda, lithia, and other aerated waters. A speciality in this line is the ginger ale, on tasting which I am not surprised to learn that the demand is in excess of the supply, and that like “The Sorcerer’s Penny Curses,” they “can’t turn them out fast enough.” I must not forget to notice an ingenious bottling machine, through one pipe of which the soda water passes from the generator into the bottle, a second pipe conveying into the bottle the syrup with which the soda water is to be flavored. In an adjacent shed I am shown a mysterious heap of dried herb, which I am told is horehound ready to be made into horehound beer.

So much for one of the most promising of our local industries. It may be that the time is not far distant when I shall have to write of “spinning jennies,” of carding engines, of “devils” (not printers) of duffers and strippers, and other devices which exercise the brains and fingers of “Bradford foak,” and when that time comes I may have to report an enlargement of a certain brewery to meet the increased demands upon it.

Aug. 16 1883   “We hear some talk about the Waipawa Brewery Company buying out Mr. G. Ellis of the St. Aubyn’s Brewery, Hastings, and shifting operations to the latter place. There is no more compact or better arranged brewery for its size in the district than that of St Aubyn’s and many of the latest improvements are to be seen there.”

Nov. 22 1884  
TO AERATED WATER AND CORDIAL MANUFACTURERS
Having registered my Trade Mark, on and after this date I shall take legal proceedings against any person using my bottles bearing my Trade Mark.
G. Ellis
Hastings.

Nov. 22 1884 
TO THE PUBLIC OF HAWKES BAY
Having engaged the services of a first-class man, I am in a position and prepared to supply bottled Ales and Stouts, (in quarts or pints) of the finest quality and flavour possessing the pleasant combination of malt and hops not to be surpassed by any brand in the coloney [colony], a trial is respectfully solicited. I am, etc.

G. Ellis
Hastings.
Nov. 20th 1884

Dec. 13 1884   Mr G. Ellis has left at our office a sample of his bottled ale produced at the St Aubyn Brewery Hastings. Without exception it is the most palatable ale we have tasted, and we are not surprised to hear it is meeting with a large demand. We further notice that Mr. Ellis is not ashamed of his production for each bottle has his brand upon it. There is no necessity to put an imitation English brand on this ale, its genuine character being its best recommendation.

Dec. 24 1884   Mr. George Ellis of Hastings, is to the face with light summer drinks and has forwarded us samples of his hop and “mirribium” beers … both are very slightly fermented …

21 April 1886

ST. AUBYN BREWERY,
AERATED WATER AND CORDIAL MANUFACTORY,
The Plant, in this Factory, is of the best and most approved principal, there is nothing but the best Material and under the supervision of skilled labour, which places the proprietor in a position to turn out a superior article. A trial is solicited to satisfy the most sceptical that there is no puff.

SUCCESS TO LOCAL INDUSTRY

Drink, My Friends, St Aubyn’s Beer,
Will cheer the old, the youth and maid, [….]

12 May 1886

ST AUBYN BREWERY,
AERATED WATER AND CORDIAL MANUFACTORY,
The Plant, in this Factory, is of the best and most approved principal, there is nothing but the best Material and under the supervision of skilled labour, which places the proprietor in a position to turn out a superior article. A trial is solicited to satisfy the most sceptical that there is no puff.

SUCCESS TO LOCAL INDUSTRY

O, woman, in our time of ease,
So smiling, soft and glad to please,
Drink St. Aubyn’s at your ease [?…..]

Jan. 25 1893   ”A country paper states that Mr. G. Ellis, of Hastings, intends relinquishing the brewery business”.

Jan. 31 1893   We recently stated that Mr. G. Ellis has decided to relinquish his brewery business at Hastings. We now learn that Mr. Newbegin [Newbigin} who has returned here from a trip to the Old Country, will be Mr. Ellis’s successor, having purchased the business. Mr. Newbigin, who was for 21 years with Mr. G. H. Swan (14 years as brewer), will take possession of his new business tomorrow. Included in the transfer is Mr Ellis’s aerated water manufactory. We understand that Mr. Ellis has no intention of leaving Hastings.

Feb. 14 1893   Our Hastings correspondent writes… the following was overheard in St Aubyn Street: – “Well, my man, I’ve sold the brewery” – “Yes, its a “Newbeginning” for Hastings.”

NEWBIGIN’S DOUBLE STOUT
BURTON BREWERY, HASTINGS
FIRST PRIZE
BOTTLED AND BREWED IN NEW ZEALAND BY
E. Newbigin
HASTINGS, H.B.
BREWER, BOTTLER
AND
Wine & Spirit Merchant
AERATED WATER
MANUFACTURER

FIRST PRIZE ALE
BURTON BREWERY, HASTINGS
BREWED AND BOTTLED IN NEW ZEALAND BY
E. NEWBIGIN
HASTINGS, H.B.
BREWER & BOTTLER
WINE & SPIRIT MERCHANT
AERATED WATER
MANUFACTURER

LAGERED ALE
BOTTLED AND BREWED AT THE BREWERY, HASTINGS

INVALID DOUBLE STOUT
BURTON BREWERY, HASTINGS
GOOD FOR SPOTS
LEOPARD BRAND
Brewed and Bottled in New Zealand by
D.H. NEWBIGIN
BREWER, BOTTLER, AERATED WATER MANUFACTURER, WINE & SPIRIT MERCHANT.

LEOPARD
PALE ALE
LEOPARD BREWERY, HASTINGS
GOOD FOR SPOTS
Brewed and Bottled in New Zealand by
D.H. NEWBIGIN
HASTINGS
FOR EXPORT

PURE MALT & HOPS
REGISTERED TRADE MARK
TONIC STOUT
CONTAINS SACCHARINES

PURE MALT & HOPS
REGISTERED TRADE MARK
LAGER BEER

THE BREWERY HASTINGS
TRADE MARK
X.P. BITTERS